Apparatus for cracking petroleum



APPARATUS H. w. JONES. Foa cnAcKmG PETROLEUM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, ISIS.,

Panted Oct. 19, 192C.

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gomery -and State of UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY WAGENSELLER JONES, OF INDEPENDENCE, KANSAS, ASSIGNCR TO THE KANSAS CITY GASOLINE COMPANY, 0F KANSAS CITY, KANSAS, A CORPORA- TION OF KANSAS APPARATUS FOR CRACKING PETROLEUM. y

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

Application filed May 27, 1916. Serial No. 100,278.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it knowntliat I, HARRY WAGENSELLER JONES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Independence, inthe county of Mont- Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Cracking Petroleum, of which the following is apspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to the art of refining liquid hydrocarbons, and has for its object the production of improved apparatus particularly adapted for cracking th'e petroleum oils and vapors, with greater safety, efficiency and economy possible.

In order to attain my object, I resort to subdivision' of the apparatus, or rather a multiplication of units to form a battery or batteries, of which the principal elements are all connected in parallel, with suitable cut-offs and pressure valves so arranged that individual units or elements may be cut in and cut out with facility.

For producing some products, and especially for cracking the most refractory heavy oils, pressures up to 100() lbs. per sq. in. are necessary, that is to say, pressures varying from LlO-to G() atm. and temperatures varying from 350 to (300 centigrade. With such pressures and such temperature, it is almost impossible with the ordinary apparatus heretofore known, to -prevent leakage, explosion and destructive fire, even when smaller containing vessels are employed, and those made of nickel steel or other very tenacious material; In some systems such as that of Renard, nickel steel pipes having an internal diameter'of approximately f2, have been employed, butwhen the diameter of the tube has been increased, difficulty was experienced in maintaining a fine grain in lthe steel and in keeping the joints from leaking after only one or two trials. This ap plies especially to pipes of large diameter, and stills of the ordinary form which are still larger. For these it is quite impossible to keep the seams from opening, andl at times to prevent violent explosion and It is true that designs have been made by others in this country w than has hitherto beenI v time, and the purpose of the present inhich I hereby specifically acknowledge, for building pipe stills with straight sections up to 5 in diameter, with return bends, bolted or other-l wise secured at the ends of the straight sections. to connect alternate opposite ends, such goints being made proof against leakage after being heated. Vithout discussing the degree of successof these designs it may be stated broadly that the danger of leakage and explosion when using 5 pipe is much greater than when using pipe of a smaller diameter, say approximately 2". Ihe drawback to the use ofsuch small pipe is of course its limited capacity, and the relatively small amount of oil or vapor which can be passed through it in a given vention is to remedy this condition, while st ill retaining a relatively small diameter pipe, by aggregating parallel paths through a battery of coils or pipes to secure any capacity which may be desired.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and especially to those familiar with the prior systems towhich I have herein referred,`that practically all the devices afn'd apparatus heretofore proposed in connection with single or-unitary systems, may apply to my present system with at least the same degree of efficiency, and in some cases with a vremarkable increase in efficiency. For example, it has been heretofore proposed to use a back trap, usually provided with a feed pump connection, for returning the uncracked residuum to the low pressure side of the system as to the primary still or tank, to be again run through and retreated. In my present system I may use one or more back traps of this kind, and may carry from them a number of pipe lines, distributing them to and among a plurality of primary stills or receiving and containing tanks if such a plurality be employed. vEach of these return lines is fitted with suitable valves, so that the residual liquid may be directed into one or more of the tanks or primary stills, as indicated by the specific gravity and conditions of the contents thereof, or

` as demanded by the'exigencies of operation.

eferring to the drawing, the -parts shown therein are as follows: A primary still or vaporizer 1 is supplied with heat from a convenient source such as a furnace 2 fitted with an oil jet 2a. drocarbon in this still may be vaporized at any desired pressure but preferably at a very low pressure or atmospheric pressure. The still is fitted with gages, a charging pipe 3, a return pipe 4, and a vapor outlet 5. All these are fitted with valves, marked respectively 6, 7, 8 and 9. The vapor outlet 5 has two branches, one branch l0 preferably going to a condenser direct, and serving to conduct off the more volatile products. including the percentage of gasolene which results` from simple distillation, While the other branch 11 goes to a compressor or` pump 12, by which the vapor is compressed through pipe 13 into the manifold'14 and the branch connecting pipes 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19, leading respectively to the superheater coils 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24. The pipe 13 is tted'with a manometer or pressure gage 25, and cut-off valve 26. It may also be fitted with any desired means to prevent back pressure of the heated oil and vapor reaching the compressor. Each of the branch connecting pipes 15 to 19 inclusfe, is fitted with ay cut-off valve, these valves being marked 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 respectively. These pipes are also preferably provided with check valves 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 respectively.

The superheater coils 20 to 24 inclusive are locatedin separate furnaces indicated by the numerals 37 to 42 inclusive. From each superheater an outlet` or discharge pipe extends to the manifold 43. These branch discharge pipes are indicated by the numerals 44, 45, 46, 47 and-48 respectively, and they are fitted with individual cutlofi valves marked 49, 50, 51, 52 land 53 respectively. The manifold 43 is the condenser manifold, and is shown fitted with branch pipes 54, 55, and 56 passing to either fractional condensers, dephlegmators, or simple condensers, as indicated at 54C, 55 and 56c which may be of different capacity or chara'cteristics. l These condense'rs are connected through pipes 57, 58 and 59 to receiving tanks, each pipe being fitted with a suitable valve 60, 61 or 62. From the bottom of each dephlegmator or condenser a pipe 63, with a valve 66,

64 or 65 is provided, fitted 67 or 68, for draining off the liquid residuum which has not passed over into the final condensers or receiving tanks through the pipes 60, 61 or 62. The actual arrangei pressor 72. Th

ment of these pipes is best shown in Fig. 16. The draining pipes are taken to a back trap manifold 69, from which a pipe 70 fitted with valve 71 passes to a pump or comis pump serves to force the uncracked residuum back through the return pipe 4 to the primaryrvaporizer 1 for retreatment.

It Will be observed that there are valves 6, 7, 8, 9 and 26, by which the vaporizer and its connection to the manifold 14 may be completely controlled, in every respect. It may be desirable under some circumstances to supply oil to the superheaters for cracking instead of vapor, and I indicate a method of doing this by means of a pump 73 connected to the manifold 14 by pipe 74 fitted with valve 75, and drawing its supply of oil through the pipe 76 from a tank or system 77.

It will be observed that because of the several valves and the multiple pipe connections through the manifold I can direct the vapor or the oil, or a mixture of both, from the primary still and tank 1 and 77,

through any one or more of the super-` heaters or pipe stills 20 to 24, and thence throug any one `or more of the dephlegmators, fractional condensers, or simple condensers. If anyone of t-he superheater coils is in trouble, as for example if a leak starts, I may instantly cut off that particular coil by means of its valves 27-49, etc., and continue to operate the remaining superheater coils without interruption. If for any reason the compressor fails to produce enough pressure in the manifold 14 to properly supply all the coils, I can cut out any desired number of them, and concentrate the discharge of the compressor on the one or more remaining in service. `After having run through a quantity of hydrocarbon and cracking so as to separate out all the higher products, it may be very desirable to treat the heavy residuum under very high ressure and this is rendered possible by tlie arrangement described.

In some cases I employ heat distributing cores for the tubes. These cores may be either solid or tubular Y which may well be in the form of a spider, the whole being of metal having a fusing point above the temperature employed in the stills and as high conductivity as may be. The purpose of the legs is to carry heat from the shell of the pipe to the core, the latter also tending to equalize, by conduction, the temperature of different portions of the oil or vapor in the pipe.

What I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

The apparatus for refining hydrocarbon oils with safety and efiiciency which comprises a single common and have short legs 1 or boiler, heating means for the same, a plurality of subdivided units for cracking at high temperature and pressure, a feed connection from the common heater to each unit, a separate heating means for each unit, means for conveying the cracked product from each unit, common receiving means connected to all of said conveying means, means for condensing the cracked products when so reassembled, and means' l0 to control the continuity of flow of oil through each cracking unit.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HARRY WAGENSELLER J ONES. 

